Jason Vargas

The Yankees are taking the conservative route with Alex Rodriguez's hip cyst and torn labrum, hoping to avoid surgery by allowing the slugger to pursue a course of rest and rehab. But the operating table may be an inevitable endgame for the nagging injury.

Vargas started experiencing stiffness in his left hip midway through the 2007 season and was diagnosed with a torn labrum by the end of the season. He tried to rest and rehab the injury during the off-season, but reported to spring training last year with the same amount of soreness, forcing him to undergo surgery a year ago this month.

Expected to be out for three months - roughly the same amount of time Rodriguez is projected to miss if he requires surgery - Vargas ended up missing the entire season. He wasn't available until October, when he pitched in the Arizona Fall League.

"It's a really big joint and you have to let it heal," Vargas said Friday afternoon in a telephone interview. "We use our hips so much in our sport . . . it's just a difficult thing to come back from really quick without damaging it."

Vargas likened the labral tear to a groin pull that never went away, causing persistent discomfort and stiffness despite multiple cortisone injections. With increased activity, the dull ache could sometimes produce "a sharp sensation" and "buckle your leg with you knowing it was going to happen."

Vargas, who turned 26 in February, opted for surgery instead of trying to play through the pain once doctors told him prolonged use could possibly lead to hip replacement surgery.

Such a prognosis could make surgery the safest long-term bet for the Yankees, who have Rodriguez under contract for another nine years.

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell played most of last year with a torn labrum in his right hip, but struggled in the field and appeared to be in intense pain whenever he checked his swing as the season wore on.

He was removed from Boston's playoff roster during the first round and had surgery last October. He's still trying to return to form in the early stages of spring training.

"It's hard for me not to think about my hip when I'm running right now," Lowell recently told the Boston Herald. "I'll be going first to third and I'll feel great for about eight strides and then I feel there's an imbalance between the hips. They tell me that's normal, but it still doesn't take away the frustration sometimes."

Vargas shuddered at the thought of trying to hit or move laterally after a ground ball with a torn hip labrum, but said the surgery eventually had him "moving around the field as if everything were normal."

"Strength-wise I'm probably 100%," he said. "But doctors said it'll probably take a complete year for the tightness to return, for your hip to feel like you never had surgery on it."